the_twilight_agefandomcom-20200214-history
Warforged
Warforged are living constructs created to be footsoldiers during the last MageWar 200 years ago. The benefits of a fighting force that could be trained in days, created in batches of hundreds, and did not require food, water or rest easily outweighed the incredible cost to create them, especially with the fighting forces of nations depleted by the endless fighting. With the war’s end came the question of what to do with these purpose-built soldiers. The fact that they were sentient, free-willed creatures made simply disassembling them an unfavourable option, and so they were integrated into society, given jobs and a legal standing as citizens of whichever nation created them. They are the main reason that so many nations bounced back so quickly from the devastation of the MageWar, and have become a fixture of cities in the civilized world. Creation of new Warforged is restricted heavily, and still extremely expensive, and so conclaves of Warforged will band together to fund and get the required permits for the creation of more of their kind, creating ‘children’ to share in their ‘family’. Personality The Warforged have emotions like other races, but without the chemical interactions of a living brain, those emotions are abstract rather than personal, subject to logical associations and rational thought. Combined with their general lack of a mobile face to express themselves with, this causes some problems when interacting with others. Wise, thoughtful Warforged often seem taciturn or stoic to other races, or a good-natured joker seems prone to dry sarcastic humour and casual cruelty. Warforged who wish to work with children or in the hospitality industries often have to work very hard to express the warmer emotions that they feel. Warforged in martial professions often use this reputation for emotionlessness to their advantage, making themselves appear unfeeling, implacable warriors to frighten potential opponents. Warforged do have gender distinctions in personality, some tending more towards a feminine personality while others are more masculine, and still others tend towards neither. Physical Description Warforged have a humanoid shape, though their exact appearance varies from individual to individual. All Warforged created for fighting appear as massive humanoids moulded from a composite of materials (obsidian, iron, stone, wood, silver, and others), though they move with surprising grace and flexibility. Warforged have no distinct genders, and save a few special creations all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. Warforged do decay over time, a process similar to aging, but they do not actually age and will look and behave relatively the same until they stop functioning. Warforged can modify their bodies through magic and training. Many Warforged are adorned with heavier metal plates than they were created with, or built in weaponry attached to or even replacing limbs. These enhancements are one way that Warforged can mark their individuality. Some Warforged were created with draconic blood as part of their makeup. This blood sometimes quickens in a still mysterious way that allows these Warforged to become Sorcerers. Not all Warforged were made with this Draconic blood addition, and having it does not mean that the Warforged is going to show Sorcerous power, in fact the chances are very slim. Dragon blood is expensive on its own, which combined with it not being a guarantee of anything, new Warforged are often created without it. Relations Being the primary work force behind the rebuilding of civilization after the last MageWar, Warforged are readily accepted by all of the civilized races as comrades and fellow citizens. Those nations that originally saw the Warforged as only property or cheap labor were soon pressured by other nations into accepting them as full citizens. While their difficulty with expressing emotions sometimes leads to misunderstandings and prejudice, they are still favourably looked upon by the majority of people. Woodlords, Barbarians and Faeborn tend to be uneasy around Warforged, each for their own reasons. For their part, Warforged are mostly integrated into their home nation and society. Alignment Warforged tend towards moral neutrality, though they show a marked preference for Law when forced to choose. Religion More than any other race, the Warforged are likely to adhere to a Principle. The Virtues are revered, but their focus has always been on the commonalities of humanoids that the Warforged do not, generally, share. Worship of the Goddesses is fairly rare among Warforged, waxing and waning depending on the tendencies of the nation the Warforged lives in. Names Warforged did not originally name themselves, but when they were accepted into society they found that giving themselves a name made them seem more like people to the other races, so they took up the habit. Warforged are not, however, creative in their naming schemes. They often name themselves after objects or animals, sometimes literally picking a name out of a hat. When conclaves of Warforged form to fund the creation of new Warforged, that conclave often chooses a group name that will become the new Warforged’s surname. Adventurers Warforged adventure for the same reasons humans do. To see the world, to earn glory, to make money, to hone their skills, etc. Racial Traits *'Ability Bonuses:' +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma. Warforged are resilient, powerful and quick learners, but their difficulty in relating to other creatures makes them seem aloof or even hostile. *'Medium: '''Warforged are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to size. *'Normal Speed: Warforged have a base land speed of 30 feet. *'Living Construct Subtype: '''Warforged are Living Constructs, not golems. The Living Construct subtype is described below. *'Composite Plating: The plating used to create Warforged provides a +2 armor bonus. This plating is not natural armor and does not stack with other effects that give an armor bonus (other than natural armor). This composite plating occupies the same space on the body as a suit of armor or a robe, and thus a warforged cannot wear armor or magic robes. Warforged plating can be enchanted just as armor can be, but the warforged themselves must be present for the entire time it takes to enchant it. Composite plating also provides a Warforged with a 5% arcane spell failure chance, similar to light armor. Any class ability that allows a warforged to ignore the spell failure chance for light armor lets him ignore this penalty as well. *'Light Fortification:' When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a Warforged there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally. *'Natural Weapons:' A Warforged has a natural weapon in the form of a slam attack that deals 1d4 points of damage. *'Automatic Languages:' Common. Bonus Languages: The language of their region of origin, and no others. Living Construct Subtype A living construct is a new subtype of construct, a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Living constructs combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below. Features: A living construct derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects. Traits: A living construct possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry). *Unlike other constructs, a living construct has a Constitution score. A living construct does not gain bonus hit points by size but gains (or loses) bonus hit points through a Constitution bonus (or penalty) as with other living creatures. *Unlike other constructs, a living construct does not have low-light vision or darkvision. *Unlike other constructs, a living construct is not immune to mind-influencing effects. *Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, and energy drain. *A living construct cannot heal damage naturally. *Unlike other constructs, living constructs are subject to critical hits, effects requiring a Fort save, death from massive damage, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects. *Unlike other constructs, a living construct can use the run action. *Living constructs can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a living construct can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a living construct is vulnerable to a harm spell. However, spells from the healing subschool provide only half effect to a living construct. *A living construct responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A living construct with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and greater than his negative Constitution, a living construct is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert living construct does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable. *Can be raised or resurrected. *Does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as heroes' feast and potions. *Does not need to sleep, but must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells. Category:Races